


Badgers and Bees

by Toonbly



Category: TAZ Amnesty - Fandom, The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Canon, minor alcohol use, not a lot tho dw, rival teams
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-01-06 08:23:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18384641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toonbly/pseuds/Toonbly
Summary: Keith and Jake haven't spoken since Jake left The Hornets. Turns out, Jake went off and made his own little sports team. "The Badgers." They and the Hornets have a bit of a friendly rivalry. Keith can't help but feel hurt, after all, he once loved Jake more than anything.





	1. The Bee

Cheering erupts around them as Keith leans on the Ski Lodge wall, hardly able to catch his breath in his dazed state. He blinks a few times and takes off his helmet, letting loose a messy mane of fiery red hair. Taking a deep breath, Keith glances around the lodge staring into a large sea of people surrounding another, smaller group of folks with matching purple and white jackets with a small badger logo on the left breast. Two people stand in the center of this purple-jacket-ed group. One an incredibly tall blonde woman with a dark grey beanie placed atop her head, the other is a small blonde with hair so messy that it completely covers up his eyes. The two of them are helping each other hold up a medium sized trophy, their teammates posing behind them as a few people in the crowd snapped photos of their little victory. Keith’s team, The Hornets, stood by and watched this. A handful of them, namely Tim and Bevin, were in surprisingly jovial moods. Kept telling the team they’ll “get ‘em next time.” But Keith didn’t care about that. He didn’t care about the competition.

He kept his eyes locked onto the smaller blonde, blood boiling seeing him give his little friends big toothy grins. Keith knew him, he knew him well. Or, at the very least, he used to. Jake Coolice, one of the most over the top spunkiest people in all of Kepler. One would believe people had stopped saying shit like “radical” in the 90s, but Jake fucking Coolice was living, breathing proof that they hadn’t. He’d never seen someone so filled with energy like Jake Coolice before. The taller girl, the leader of their team, however, he’d never met formally before. He knew her name was Dani, and he knew she lived in the same lodge that Jake lived in, but that was about it. They’d met in passing once or twice a few months ago, but nothing more than that. Still, Keith wasn’t focusing on her. He couldn’t keep his eyes off Jake.

How he smiles, how he laughs along with his teammates. The way he proudly puffs out his chest to talk to those who ask about today’s competition, showing off his snowboard and it’s intensely bright colors. He’s so happy. He’s so...okay. Keith clenches his fists and bites his bottom lip, his heart pounding against his chest. How. How is he so happy. How is he so  _ okay. _

His heart stops when Jake locks eyes with him. 

And he _ smiles. _

Jake smiles. He smiles a big cheesy grin, and starts pushing his way through the crowd to Keith. Keith swallows, he wants to walk away. He wants to just up and leave. He doesn’t want to talk to Jake right now, not now. How can he be so okay with just- just walking up to him like this, like everything is so okay. It’s been months,  _ months. _ How does Jake think he can just walk up to him so nonchalantly after months of silence. How can he do that when in just a few months he’d already gone off and made his own little team, The Badgers, after leaving the rest of them in the dust. There has to be a reason.

Keith didn’t want to hear it.

He takes a deep breath and begins pushing through the crowd himself, walking away from Jake. Jake, of course, tries to follow him. He even calls out Keith’s name. Keith ignores him. He doesn’t need this right now, he doesn’t need any of this. Not once,  _ not once _ did Jake try to reach out, or explain why he left, nothing. None of that. They were friends one moment, strangers the next. So, yeah, maybe the aftermath of wiping the slopes with The Hornets wasn’t the best time to be trying to to talk to him proceeding months of silence. 

Before he even knew it, Keith was standing just outside the Ski Lodge. The cold Autumn breeze brushing against his face. He freezes there on the steps when the door opens behind him.

“Keith!” Jake says, “Hey! I was trying to say hi to you in there!”

Jake’s voice makes the skin on his back crawl. It’s a voice he hasn’t heard in a long time. His heart begins to race again. Keith says nothing, hoping he’ll just go away if he ignores him long enough. He can’t move his legs, they become weights sinking himself into the spot where he stands. Reaching into his pockets, he grabs a pack of cigarettes and his lighter hoping to sooth his nerves.

“Good game out there!” Jake continues, walking to Keith’s side, standing on the step just above the one Keith stands on.

“Thanks.” Keith replies coldly, lighting one of his cigarettes.

“Um..So..” Jake’s voice becomes quiet, he fidgets with his white scarf, “I thought that uh- I dunno, I wanted to- Y’know, my team and I-”

“Save it.” Keith interrupts. The weight that once kept him down was no longer there, he begins to walk away.

Jake doesn’t call out for him.

His motorbike is parked right across from where the stairs are, he didn’t even grab his board. The others would probably take care of it for him later. He hops on, placing his helmet back onto his head. In his mirror he sees Jake, still standing on the steps of the Ski Lodge, staring at Keith. He’s no longer fidgeting with his scarf, instead clinging to the ends of it. As he revs up his bike he sees two other people step out of the lodge, but doesn’t have time to process who they are before he takes off down the road.

***

The moment he arrived home, Keith threw down his helmet and crashed into bed. By now he has no idea how long he’s been laying here. A few hours, probably. He’s lost track of time. Usually this wasn’t how he dealt with things. He’d go out into the woods for a little bit, throw a few rocks into the lake, just blow off some steam. That sort of stuff, but he didn’t have the energy to do anything but lie down. His head was swimming, he couldn’t stop thinking about Jake. Maybe that wasn’t the way to handle the situation. Maybe he should’ve listened to Jake. It was just..too overwhelming to be around him right now. It was too overwhelming to be around anyone. He clung to his blankets, sinking further into the comforting warmth that protected him from a chilly Autumn night. 

A click from the living room caught Keith’s attention. The front door opens.

Hollis.

Keith turns his back to his bedroom door, burying his face into his pillows. He knew they’d want to talk. He knew they were going to confront him about what happened. He knew they were going to make him talk about it. He couldn’t, he just couldn’t. Everything was too much tonight. He tenses up whenever his bedroom door slowly creaked open. Heavy footsteps made their way over to Keith’s bed, the mattress sinking in once they sat down on the rim of his bed.

“Hey.” Hollis says.

“Hey.” Keith mimics.

There’s a silence. Their eyes are burning into the back of Keith’s skull. He almost wants to pull the blanket over his head to shield himself from their gaze.

“So..Today’s competition.” Hollis continues.

“Yeah.”

“You walked out.”

Keith doesn’t reply.

“You want to talk about it?” They place their hand on his shoulder, he begins to untense when he feels their warm touch.

Keith sits up, propping himself up on his elbows as he turns to face Hollis. Their eyes stare down at him intently, he can see nothing but worry in their bright blue pools of color. He chuckles lightly, “How are you not bothered by any of this?”

They cocked their eyebrow, squinting their eyes almost accusingly, “About..Losing today’s competition? Keith, we’ve lost before it’s not-”

“No! No not...Not that. Not- Not just that, I mean,” He sighed, “Losing to  _ him! _ And- And how  _ okay  _ he seemed after everything! He was so cheerful!”

“I would be too if my team had just won. I get that we’re rival teams but we can still be happy for them.”

“Hollis you’re not  _ getting it. _ ” Keith mumbles, digging his fingers into the bed sheets beneath him in frustration. “It’s not about us losing, it’s Jake! Does it- does it not bother you that he has his own little team now?”

Hollis thinks for a moment, “No.” They say, “Not really. It’s fun having a little competition around here. Granted, it’s also a pain in the ass, but it’s fun.”

“So it doesn’t bother you  _ at all _ that Jake left us for this?”

Hollis blinks, their expression becomes less accusing and more pitiful. Their grip on Keith’s shoulder tightens just a little bit, “Keith, is this all because you miss him?”

Keith becomes flustered, his cheeks quickly turn red. He huffs, he can’t help but feel..angry. “Yeah, right,” He scoffs, “Like I’d miss the guy who abandoned his friends for some- some scrappy little bullshit team with those freaks from the lodge.”

“It’s okay if you miss him,” Hollis says softly, “I know how you felt about him-”

Keith’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the sheets even tighter. His voice rises, “He was a fucking drag to our team, that’s what he was! He was a goddamn  _ coward _ who refused to face anything that was even slightly intimidating. I bet you he did all this because he  _ thinks _ he’s better than us!”

Hollis cups Keith’s face in their hands, staring into his eyes intensely. Their voice is almost emotionless, “Keith. Chill out. You know none of that is true.”

“Then why?” He snaps, “Why did he leave us, Hollis? Why did he REFUSE to contact any of us for MONTHS? Can you tell me that?”

Hollis sighs, “No, I can’t.”

“Exactly.” Keith pulls away from them. He blinks back the frustrated tears forming in his eyes. “I hate him.” Keith says, “I fucking hate him.”

“No you don’t.” Hollis replies.

Keith doesn’t answer, he instead clenches his eyes closed. He wants to scream, he wants to break every last thing in this room. Everything used to be so  _ okay. _ He and Jake were happy together. Jake’s cold hands intertwined with Keith’s much warmer hands, his obnoxious laugh that used to make Keith’s heart leap every time he heard it, the softness in Jake’s voice when he knew Keith was upset. Gone. All  _ gone.  _ Forever. He could never have any of it back and it was so infuriating. But no, he didn’t miss him. He- He didn’t love him, not anymore. He hated him.

At least, that’s what he told himself.

His chest aches, it all feels so  _ empty. _ Without noticing Keith lets out a quiet sob. Then another, and another. Before he knows it he doubles over, burying his face in his knees and sobbing into his blankets. Hollis’s warm embrace suddenly encapsulates him, he accepts the comfort without resistance. He wraps his shaking arms around them, pushing his face into their shoulder, practically wailing at this point. His chest feels like it's being slowly split open, old wounds being forcibly reopened after so many months of hiding them, uncovering old feelings Keith had hoped he could just lock away. 

Hollis runs their hand through Keith’s messy hair, rubbing his back in small circles with their other hand. “Ssshhh...Hey, c’mon big guy it’s alright. I’m right here, okay?” They place their chin atop his head, “It’s okay, it’s okay..” They mutter.

Keith can’t reply, he lets out another strained sob and grips the back of their jacket. His breath is shaken, his entire body racked with sobs. ‘ _ Pathetic.’ _ He thinks, ‘ _ How pathetic. _ ’

This continues for several minutes, Keith bawling his eyes out whilst Hollis tries to calm him down. Their fingers lacing themselves through his hair. Keith taking in the warmth of their embrace and the softness of their voice. This routine is all too familiar to the both of them. Eventually, Keith does manage to calm down. Tears still stream down his face, but at the very least he’s no longer wailing. Hollis moves their hands out of his hair and away from his back. They once again cup his face in their palms, making him look up at them. They wipe away his tears with their thumbs. Their voice still gentle as they speak, “Are you doing better now?”

Keith weakly nods and sniffles, each tear that rolls down his cheeks being promptly wiped away by Hollis’s soft touch.

“Good, good..It’s okay to cry, Keith. You’re allowed to miss him. I promise it’s okay.” They continue.

He says nothing and takes in a deep breath.

“How about this,” They say, “I’ll go make us some popcorn, we’ll pop in a few of your favorite movies, and try to keep our minds off of all of this, alright? No Hornets or Badgers or Jake- none of that. Just the two of us and some shitty 80s movies. Does that sound good?”

Keith can’t help but laugh, “Sounds perfect.”

“Good. I’ll go get everything set up, you bring as many blankets as you need.” With that, they stand up and exit the room.

It takes Keith a moment longer to follow them. His legs are like jelly, his knees nearly buckle when he stands up. He gathers two or three of his many, many blankets and slowly walks into the living room. He sits down on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

His eyes sting, he’s hardly able to cry anymore. He wants to. He wants to bury himself in his bed sheets and scream and sob all night, but he can’t. It’s been months and nothings changed. He’ll deny it all he wants, but deep down he knows he still loves Jake. Even with all of these little distractions to keep him occupied it still hurts.

_ ‘It still hurts.’  _ He repeats to himself in his head, before his eyes begin to flutter closed. Drowsiness overtook him like a wave crashing into the seashore. Hollis hadn’t even gotten done preparing the popcorn by the time he passes out.

It still hurts.


	2. The Badger

Jake stares after his old friend as he rides away on his motorbike. He wants to call out for him, he wants to follow him- somehow, fuck if he can keep up with a motorbike on foot- and just  _ talk  _ to him. But he was gone before he could even get a word out. His heart sinks as he watches Keith disappear through the nearby forest brush, heading only God knows where. He always had a tendency to up and vanish when something was wrong. And, obviously, something was wrong. Jake had hopes that maybe, just maybe, the two of them could reconcile after today’s competition. The idea of having to talk things out with him made him..nervous, but he misses Keith. Everything with the Stunt Club had just changed so quickly, Jake wasn’t sure if he could stick around if  _ that  _ was the kind of scene it was turning into.

The Hornets were by no means a gang, of course. They aren’t now and they never have been. The worst crime they’ve ever commited is writing on walls or jumping H2Whoa’s fence. Really, they were the equivalent of a bunch of frat boys. Which in all fairness is pretty much what they were. A bunch of college aged punks getting up to some minor mischief for fun. Jake didn’t hate them for it, but that wasn’t something he could participate in. Being a magical being from another planet doesn’t exactly make you safe to get into trouble with the local police. Risking your identity being revealed and a civil war breaking out isn’t worth going out and sneaking some beers for the eighteen and nineteen year old Hornets members, or spray painting pretty pictures on the park ranger station, or anything else the Hornets tend to get up to. So, he left. He left without much of an explanation, because what the hell was he supposed to say? “I can’t risk people finding out I’m literally a magic space snow creature”? “I think you’re all criminals so peace out”? God, no, they’d either be freaked the fuck out or horribly offended. They weren’t criminals in any major sense and Jake didn’t want to so much as imply he thought so lowly of his friends, but he also couldn't tell them the full truth. So what was he to do other than leave without much of a scene?

He’s too caught up in thought to notice the door opening behind him right before Keith takes off. Dani’s voice catches his attention, though he doesn’t take his eyes off where Keith once was. “Jake?” She says, “What’d you run out here for?”

“I saw Keith come out here too,” Hollis spoke up, “Where...is he?”

Jake swallows, “He uh..he drove off.”

Hollis sighs, “You didn’t try to talk to him, did you?”

“Well I- I tried to!” Jake says, finally turning to look at the two of them, “I was hoping maybe our- our team could meet up and get some drinks or something and I wanted to ask him cause-” He sighs, “I thought it’d be a good time to catch up.”

Hollis makes a small “mmhm” noise and walks to stand by Jake’s side, “Look, Jake, I’ll deal with him when I get home, he’s...been going through a lot.” They briefly stare at him as they say this, but the second Jake notices they look away.

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah..Yeah he’ll be fine.” They still keep their gaze away from him, “Thanks for your offer, lieutenant, but we already got plans down at the Little Dipper.” 

“Oh, uh...yeah alright thats rad. You guys have fun!”

Hollis gives him a nod before heading back inside. 

Dani looks to Jake who still stands on the lower stairs, staring off towards the road. She sighs, walking to stand beside him. She puts a hand on his shoulder, playfully shaking him as she smiles. “Aw, c’mon Jake,” She says, wrapping her arm around his shoulders, “We can all still go out to one of those diners you really like! Celebrate our victory!” She turns to the door and opens it, about to walk inside before she notices Jake isn’t following her. He’s still standing there on the steps, staring down the road. She’s not even sure he heard what she said to him. He fidgets with the ends of his scarf, taps his foot against the stairs, and bites his bottom lip. Trembling hands wrap themselves around Jake’s scarf, no longer fidgeting and instead gripping the soft fabric like his life depended on it. She’d seen Jake act this way only a handful of times in her time knowing him, and even then those were only when she  _ witnessed  _ this. Jake had always been skilled at hiding his nervousness after all, but sometimes it slipped through the cracks. Dani sighs and approaches Jake once more. “Jake?” She says, “Did you hear me?”

Jake merely nods in response, his hands still shaking even when grasping at his own scarf.

Dani gently wraps an arm around his shoulder, making him sit down with her as she lowered herself onto the stairs. The second they’re seated he leans onto her, she can feel his quivering now. It was no longer just his hands, his entire body was shaken up. She pulls him closer with the arm already wrapped around his shoulder. “Jake, what happened?”

It takes Jake a few moments to reply, his voice is abnormally quiet when he speaks, “Nothing.” He says, “Nothing happened.”

Dani frowns, “Now Jake, you can talk to m-”

“No, Dani, I’m being serious. Nothing happened.” 

“..Oh.”

Jake nuzzles himself closer to Dani, so much so that he can clearly smell the faint scent of pine trees. “I- I tried to talk to Keith, I thought it- the competition- would be a good time to catch up, but..”

“Jake that’s not nothing.”

“It’s not exactly  _ something _ either.”

“What’d he say?”

“Nothing.” Jake says, voice becoming even quieter, “He just left.” He takes a deep breath and looks back to the exact spot Keith had been standing at just moments ago. His next few words are rushed, almost as if he’s forcing himself to say it, “Dani, do you think he hates me?”

Dani sits straight up in surprise. She grabs one of Jake’s hands, gently prying it away from the scarf that it clung to. She held it tightly, squeezing it in a comforting manner as she spoke, “Hey now don’t say that. Why would he hate you?”

“He didn’t- he didn’t take me leaving the Hornets very well,” He returns Dani’s gesture as he speaks. A chill runs up her arm as he continues to speak, “He didn’t  _ say  _ anything when- when I told them but..but I could tell he was upset, s-so I thought he needed his space, but..Dani it’s been nine months since we last spoke.”

“Why didn’t you reach out?”

“I don’t know...I thought he’d let me know when he was okay with talking again. He was...pretty upset, Dani..” His grip on both his scarf and Dani’s hand becomes tighter, “I tried to talk to him today, I did! But he- he left..”

“Maybe he’s not ready yet?” 

“ _ Nine months. _ ” Jake repeats, “I..I miss him, Dani.” Jake leans forward, letting go of Dani’s hand and putting his head in his hands. “I fucked up, Dani- M-Maybe I shouldn’t have left the Hornets-”

“Don’t say that,” Dani puts her hand on Jake’s back, her voice taking a sudden serious tone, “You didn’t have to stay if you didn’t want to.”

“But Keith hates me now-”

“I doubt he hates you.”

“How do you know?”

“How do  _ you _ know?”

Jake sighs, digging his fingers lightly into his hair, “I don’t know, Dani, I don’t..I just miss him, and apparently he- he doesn’t want to see me and it feels  _ shitty. _ ” Tears threaten to flow from Jake’s eyes, but he blinks them back. With a shaken breath he continues on, “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him for months.” 

The thought of seeing Keith smile, hearing him  _ laugh  _ like he used to cause Jake’s heart to ache. He missed it. He missed it all. More than anything he missed that laugh, that stupid goddamn laugh. Loud and hearty, Keith always covered his mouth every time he laughed. Jake would constantly tell him not to, but he was too embarrassed to admit it was because he wanted to see his smile again. His crooked-toothed smile that shone brighter than the sun. The rare brightness in Keith’s dark eyes any time they were together. The way that Keith used to brush the hair out of Jake’s face just to get a look at his bright blue eyes. How Jake’s small hands fit perfectly in Keith’s palms, which Keith always teased him for. How  _ easy  _ it was to make Keith’s face flush a scarlet red with just a simple compliment. Oh, and the bear hugs. Those were always pretty great. Next to their old friend Bevin, Keith was the largest guy in the Hornets. Ridiculously tall and well built, muscular might be a good word to describe it. When he’d first joined the Stunt Club Jake had found him somewhat intimidating, but later he realized he…

..What did he realize?

That was a question he’s been trying to answer for months now. Keith and Jake had had a very..complex relationship. What exactly they considered each other was never something they addressed. Many had thought one thing or another, given how close the two boys were, but Jake had never tried to answer the question himself. He’d tried to ignore it after he left the Hornets.  _ ‘Keith needs his space’  _ He’d told himself,  _ ‘You can’t be thinking about this right now. This isn’t what Keith needs. It’s not what you need.’ _

The realization that all of that was now gone hit him like a ton of bricks.

Keith’s laugh, his smile, the gentleness in his voice when Jake was around, all of it? Gone.

Jake can’t have that back.

Keith doesn’t want him back.

Jake blinks back tears and takes another deep breath. He sits up and brushes his hair out of his face, Dani immediately taking notice to the tears fighting their way to fall down Jake’s now reddening face. Before she can open her mouth to say anything or provide him any comfort, Jake stands up.

“Look just- l-let’s not..not talk about it anymore,” He says, rubbing his eyes with one gloved hand, “You can- can take the team out to celebrate, or something, I-I don’t know. I might join you later but I- I need to be on my own for a bit, okay?”

“Jake..” Dani mumbles, standing up and putting her hand on his shoulder, “It’s okay to be upset. We don’t have to go out and celebrate if you’re not feeling up to it right now.”

Jake shook his head, “No, no it’s- it’s fine. Don’t let me spoil your fun. I’ve..got a lot on my mind right now, is all..”

Dani hesitates. She hugs him, tightly, for just a few moments before pulling away. She traces her thumb over his cheek to wipe away the tears that have now started to fall. When she steps back she assures him they’re all there for him if he needs anything, anything at all. Soon after she heads back inside, leaving Jake alone in the cold autumn afternoon.

He stares after her before turning to walk down the road. He saw the tracks of Keith’s motorbike in the mud nearby, a voice screams at him to follow it. Another screams for him to ignore it. 

_ You need to be alone. You need to be alone. _

Jake’s head is swimming, almost in a daze as he treks back to the Amnesty Lodge. He longs for Keith’s voice, his touch,  _ anything. _ Anything to make things feel like the way they were before the Hornets. Before the Badgers. Before any of this.

He stares down at the hands that once perfectly fit in Keith’s palms, and he his heart aches, it aches worse than it ever had before.

His heart longs for Keith again.

_ He  _ longs for Keith.

And he doesn’t understand why.


	3. Crash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! A quick content warning for this one for some blood n stuff! Nothing too graphic, but I figured I'd give y'all a heads up!

 

The alcohol burns the back of Keith’s throat for the hundredth time that night. He slams his shot glass, one of many, onto the bar in front of him. Nobody was with him, but the bar was loud and busy that night, almost overwhelmingly so. He’d been here for a few hours, downing one shot after another. Hollis was gone tonight, out visiting family or something like that, so their apartment was empty. Initially, Keith was going to take to just sitting around the apartment and moping, but that turned out to be a lot more difficult than he thought it would be. The silence was chilling. Nobody talking, nobody walking around the house, nobody just through his bedroom door to be there for him if something happened. Nobody. He was alone. He couldn’t be alone right now. So, what better way to cope than to go get absolutely hammered completely alone in a building full of loud, energetic strangers? Keith grabs another shot glass, downing it’s contents once more. The burning sensation no longer bothered him.

It’s been two weeks.

It’s been two weeks since the competition between the Hornets and the Badgers.

His stomach churns when he thinks about it. His head throbs. Maybe it’s just the vodka. God, how much has he had to drink? He glances around the spinning room, the dim lights of the bar absolutely blinding him. The endless voices of strangers that surround him are drowned out by the pounding in his ears. The heat in his cheeks and numbness in his hands don’t help his dazed state at all. In all honesty, he’d come here hoping the alcohol would help. It wasn’t, and he knew it wouldn’t, but can you blame a guy for trying? Everyone here was just so  _ loud. _ So energetic, so lively. For some run down small town bar, it was surprisingly colorful too. Yellows, blues, pinks all brightly shining and blinding Keith from above. He hates it. He hates it more than anything.

He has to leave.

He nearly knocks over his stool when he stands up. His head begins to spin as he stumbles his way towards the door. 

One or two people make passing, snide comments towards him. In their defense, he  _ did _ run into them, but snide is still snide.

He trips his way into the parking lot, hardly able to keep himself standing. He scans the area around him.

Goddammit, where's his bike?

He spots it just a moment later and clumsily walks towards it. He grabs his helmet and straps it onto his head after fumbling with the buckles for a good few minutes. Maybe deciding to drive himself home on a motorbike while helplessly wasted wasn't the best idea, but what else was he gonna do? Interrupt Hollis's business? Let the Hornets see what a mess he's been lately? God, no, he could never. Hollis didn't need to worry about him. His team didn't need to worry about him.  _ Nobody  _ needed to worry about him.

He climbs onto his bike and turns the key.

Cause, clearly, he's fine.

Slowly, he drives out of the parking lot.

It's not like anything is bothering him, nothing too serious.

He spots the road through the woods. That's the quickest way home, right?

It's not like everything has just been so different lately.

He turns down the road that leads into the woods.

It's not like he wants to know why. He doesn't need answers.

He begins to speed up. He hardly notices.

It's not like he thinks he's utterly pathetic for still feeling this way about him even after all this time.

Faster still, caught in thought, hardly able to tell what's going on in front of him.

It's not like he  _ misses _ Jake.

He hits something.

Before he even realizes it, he’s flying through the air.

He skids across the cold pavement and tumbles onto the side of the road, lying in the snow completely still.

His breath escapes him for a moment, hardly able to process what’s happened.

He lifts a trembling hand up to his face, weakly pushing the helmet that weighed down his head like a ton of bricks off. Feeling something warm against his forehead, he brings his hand into view. He stares at his palm, watching the crimson red trickle down his hand and stain his sleeve.

That’s when everything begins to burn.

His arms, his legs, his chest-  _ everything. Everything is scorching in a searing hot pain. _

He wonders if this is the worst of it or if the alcohol is suppressing the rest.

Attempting to move any further only made it worse.

The winter’s cold began piercing against his burning hot skin.

And he screams.

***

The bitter cold of a new winter feels like a mother's embrace against Jake's skin. It's the time of year where Jake must wander the forests and give Mother Nature just  _ a little bit _ of assistance in these chilly times. He runs his hand over a few pine tree branches, watching them be covered by thin layers of frost.

It had snowed the previous night, also his doing, and he was going around making sure everything was in ship shape. Every forest animal seemed ready for hibernation, every living flora ready for their own well deserved rest. He remembers muttering a thank you to a small patch of flowers before freezing them over. They were a small patch of pink camellias, the prettiest Jake had seen the entire warm season. Clearly, he had to thank them for their company before laying them to rest, they must've brought smiles to so many people's faces that season. 

In that sense, perhaps Jake's job was a bit grim. Reaping the beauty of Spring and Summer, to replace them with the cold of Winter. But, Winter had its own beauties, its own discoveries to be made. It could be cruel, taking away the things you love with no explanation as to why. Jake didn't like to think of it that way. Instead, he thought of his work as a new beginning. A reset button. Just because things were different didn't mean that they were gone. All it took was a little adjusting and plenty of patience.

He steps back to admire his handiwork, smiling giddily at the gleaming layers of frost covering each and every tree.

For a moment there, he was completely lost in thought, contemplating what surprises this winter may bring.

That’s when he hears a gut wrenching scream in the distance.

His blood runs cold.

Jake would know that voice anywhere.

Without a moment of hesitation Jake rushes towards the direction of which Keith’s strangled cries are coming from. Hoping,  _ praying _ he can get there on time. 

His stomach drops when he sees a figure lying in the snow.

A familiar head of bright red hair and a yellow jacket.

Nearby is a motorbike wrecked in the snow.

The closer he gets the more of Keith’s injuries Jake can see. 

The gash in his hand, the blood that began to stain up and down his jacket sleeves, a gruesome scrape nearly covering the entirety of Keith’s left cheek, and Jake was  _ fairly _ sure his nose was broken. The blood had already begun to stain the snow.

The screaming.

As if he hadn’t even noticed Jake was there, Keith kept  _ screaming. _

Jake knelt by Keith’s side. He reeked of blood and alcohol. 

Jake’s heart sank once the pieces of what happened here clicked together.

“Keith?” Jake says, raising his voice, “Keith- C-Calm down I-I’m right here- Are you with me, bud?”

Keith’s eyes snap open, tears streaming down his face. His lip quivers as he tries to speak. The only thing he can manage is a quiet,  _ “Jake..?” _

“Yeah, yeah it- it’s me- Holy shit- J-Just relax I-”

He places a hand on Keith’s shoulder. Keith jerks away and begins to scream again.

“St- STAY AWAY-” He cries, clenching his eyes closed.

“I- Keith you need help!” Jake says, grabbing Keith’s shoulder more forcefully, “Are you  _ drunk?” _

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME-”

“Keith-”

“GO AWAY-”

“Keith I-”

“I HATE YOU.”

The words escape Keith’s mouth before he even realizes what he’s saying. 

Jake reels back. 

Something in his chest breaks.

From Keith’s perspective he can see Jake’s icy blue eyes staring down at him. Keith’s chest tightens when he sees tears forming in Jake’s eyes.

Keith curls up in the snow, silently swearing to himself. Hollis’s voice echoes in the back of his head.

_ No you don’t. _

Jake takes a deep breath, “You need help.” He hates how his voice wavers.

Keith lets out another sob, drawing further into himself. He wants to vanish, he wants  _ Jake _ to vanish.  _ Why did he say that. Why did he  _ **_say_ ** _ that.  _ Jake shouldn’t have to see him like this. Drunk, crying himself out after having cut himself open against the pavement. Jake didn’t deserve to be yelled at or- or told he’s hated. Jake shouldn’t even be helping him right now.

And yet..

There’s a cold hand against his shoulder now. Jake lifts Keith out of the snow.

“Can- Can you stand?” Jake mutters.

Keith shakenly stands, his knees immediately buckle under him.

Jake catches him, allowing him to lean on him for support. He places a hand on Keith’s back, causing Keith to flinch and cry out. Only now does Jake notice that the back of Keith’s jacket is torn up, exposing the red, peeled back skin on his back.

Jake swallows and looks away.

Keith lets out more strangled sobs, attempting to force himself to speak.

“I- I’m so- Jake I’m sor-”

“Calm down. It’s- It’s fine just- don’t think about it right now. I’m gonna bring you somewhere safe, just work with me okay?”

Keith nods.

The scent of his own blood finally hits him.

He’s gonna be sick.

“A-Alright, walk with me, real slow, okay?” Jake mutters. 

Jake’s voice, his touch, his  _ everything _ is a warm, comforting presence to Keith.

He wishes it wasn’t.

***

Keith hardly processes where Jake takes him to. He’s surprised he’s managed to cling onto consciousness for this long.

That being said, though, he is knelt over a toilet vomiting violently. So, not exactly the most ideal situation either.

Jake gently pats Keith’s shoulder. If his head weren’t throbbing he’d swear Jake was speaking to him.

Keith sits up. The room is spinning.

“Okay- A-Alright just-” Jake says, turning Keith to face him, “Let me see your hand-” He grabs the hand Keith had practically gouged open. 

He helps Keith stand, bringing his hand to the faucet and turning it on. Keith gasps when the cold water hits the gash in his hand. Jake cleans the cut thoroughly before spraying it with some sort of antiseptic. He somewhat sloppily wraps bandages around Keith’s hand. He repeats the same process for the scrape on Keith’s cheek.

Then, he makes Keith sit down on the rim of the bathtub. He grabs a nose splint off the counter.

Jake bites his bottom lip, “This- This is gonna hurt, a lot, I- I’m sorry.”

He places the splint on Keith’s broken nose, causing Keith to suck in air through his teeth.

“Go on three, okay?” Jake says.

Keith nods, already clenching his eyes closed.

“Okay...One..Two..Three-”

Keith lets out a strained yelp when the cartilage snaps back into place. He almost blacks out.

“I-I’m sorry- I’m sorry-” Jake’s voice is rushed, “It hurts I-I know but- I promise you it'll be done with soon.”

Jake grabs the collar of Keith’s jacket, “Are- I-I need you to take these off, okay? I-I’m just checking how bad your scrapes are.”

Again, Keith can only nod.

Jake slowly removes Keith’s torn up jacket and shirt. Keith stares at them as they land against the bathroom floor.

God, Hollis is going to kill him.

He turns Keith to the side, gasping again when he sees the torn up layer of skin on Keith’s back. It’s covered in dirt and mud, he swears there’s bits of rock in the cuts as well.

“Okay- Okay, um..Fair warning, this may hurt a bit..” Jake then turns on the water in the bathtub.

Keith flinches and yelps when the cold water hits his back.

“Sorry, sorry..” Jake mutters, “I know it hurts, I- I promise it won’t last long..”

Keith grips his pants leg and bites his bottom lip, shuddering each time Jake runs the water down his back. His head is spinning, he’s still dazed both from the crash and the alcohol.

Soon Jake begins the process of bandaging up the scrapes that cover his back. He grabs more bandage wrap, kneeling down in front of Keith.

“You still with me?” He mutters.

“Mhm..”

“Good, good. We’re almost done, okay? Just hang in there, you’re doing great.” Jake unravels a part of the bandage wrap, “Tell me if I’m doing this too tightly, okay?”

Keith jerks forward when the wrappings make contact with his skin, the searing hot pain shooting up his neck. Jake mutters a small apology and continues on. Once the wrappings are secure, Jake places a hand on Keith’s back. A chill runs up Keith’s spine and makes him shiver. Jake’s hands had always been cold, but this was like he’d pressed ice directly against his skin. Though, it did make everything hurt a lot less..With another shiver, Keith grips the edge of the bathtub and lets out a shaken sigh.

“Are you alright, man?” Jake whispers, “It’s over now, nothing else to fix up. You’re...probably gonna be in a lot of pain for a few days, though..”

Keith shudders again, “Y-Yeah...Yeah..I..” He takes a deep breath, “I need to- I need to go home-”

Keith tries to stand up before Jake can even protest. His knees immediately give out and he collapses. Jake catches him just before he hits the floor and sits him up against the wall.

“Keith. You can’t leave tonight. You’re in no condition to be wandering around in the middle of the night,  _ especially  _ not when you’re totally fucking wasted.”

“I’m not- Not wasted-” Keith says, shaking his head, “I didn’t even drink  _ that  _ much..”

“You reek of vodka and you just crashed your bike. You’re staying here.”

Jake grabs Keith’s hands and helps him stand up. Jake wraps an arm around the small of Keith’s back, allowing him to lean on him for support. Keith doesn’t even protest as Jake escorts him out of the bathroom and down the hall.

He scans his surroundings best he can.

Walls made of dark auburn wood, a nice little fireplace just inside what he would assume is a living room if it weren’t so big, halls lined with multiple doors with little numbers on them. Oh, and it smells like pine trees. Beyond the stench of alcohol, blood, and vomit that emanated off of Keith, it smelled like pine trees.

Jake makes Keith lean against a wall in the hallway before opening the door and helping Keith walk inside.

Keith’s eyes widen when he walks into the room.

Each wall is covered with brightly colored posters of extreme sports, old video games, etc. The floor is littered with dvd cases, neon colored windbreakers, and a various array of other clothes. In the corner are sloppily organized skateboarding and snowboarding gear. It’s a  _ mess.  _ Which surprises Keith, it wasn’t always like this. Jake usually wasn’t this messy.

..Oh.

Keith’s eyes snap back to Jake.

Then to his surroundings.

Back to Jake.

He’s in the Amnesty Lodge.

He’s in Jake’s room.

Jake sits him down on the bed, “Alright, chill out here. I-I’m sorry it’s..it’s kinda messy.” He chuckles nervously.

Keith can only stare at him.

The guilt he felt before is once again weighing down on him.

Jake was here, allowing him into his home and patching him up after his little break down. Jake was here, watching after Keith just as he used to. God, and how did Keith thank him? Getting so drunk that he nearly killed himself on his bike? Yelling at him, swearing at him, telling him he hated him? Then making him patch up his injuries immediately afterwards? How pathetic. How  _ cruel _ of him. Jake didn’t deserve this.

Keith let out a strangled sob.

Jake shot his gaze towards him in an instant, “Keith?” He whispers.

Fuck.

Keith tries to stop, he tries to hold back the tears, the sobs, the cries, but his efforts are futile. He crumbles before Jake, burying his face in his hands in shame.

Add that to the list of “Worst ways to thank someone for saving your life.”

“Keith!” Jake grabs Keith’s hand gently, “A-Are you hurt? What’s-”

“I- I’m- Jake I’m sorry- I-I’m sorry-” Keith chokes, digging his fingers into his hair.

“It- It’s okay, Keith, really-”

“NO IT’S NOT!” Keith shouts, “It’s n-not- I- I can’t keep- you don’t deserve to- fuck- fuck Jake I-”

“Hey, hey c’mon now-”

“I- I don’t- I don’t hate you I-”

“Keith-”

“You d-don’t-”

Jake cups Keith’s face in his hands, making him look up at him. Apart from Keith’s sobs, there’s a moment of silence between the two of them. Keith stares into Jake’s soft, icy eyes. His heart pounds against his chest.

“Keith..” Jake says softly, “We can talk about this tomorrow, okay? You’re drunk, you’re injured, and you’re  _ very  _ overwhelmed. You just need to relax, okay?”

Keith nods.

“Good. Just chill out, alright? It’s okay. Everything’s okay.”

Keith lets out another quiet sob, but at the very least he’s no longer shaking or- or shouting or anything like that..

“I’m sorry..” He mumbles.

“It’s okay.” Jake says, “Everything’s okay. You need to get some rest, okay? Everything will be cool tomorrow, and we can talk then. Okay?”

“Mhm..”

“Good.”

He puts a hand on Keith's chest, gently pushing him to lie down. Keith obeys without much protest. His back stings when it makes contact with the sheets beneath it, and he instead opts to roll over and lie on his stomach. Not the most comfortable option, but certainly better than putting pressure on his wounded skin. Jake's cold hand places itself on Keith's back again. A chill runs up his spine, the pain he once felt once again disappearing with a small wave of cold making its way up his back. 

How strange.

Jake removes his hand from Keith's back, grabbing a pillow Keith wasn't using and dropping it to the ground. He sits before lying down on the messy floor.

Keith sits up, "What're you..you doin'..?"

Jake looks up to him, "Uh...Sleeping? Or, trying to, at least."

"On the floor..?"

"I can't sleep on the bed, clearly."

"It's your room, though.."

"You're the one who just skinned yourself alive, I think you need the bed more than me."

"There's room for- for..two of us."

Heat rises in Jake's face. Keith stares down at him, seemingly unaware of what he'd just suggested. For a moment, Jake considers it. I mean, clearly, it's not weird to sleep next to a guy whom you have very confusing feelings about, haven't talked to in months, just saw get into a motorbike accident preceded by him yelling that he hates you, but then later taking it back while having an utter meltdown. Jake reminds himself Keith is drunk. He doesn't know what he wants, or what he's saying. God, would it just upset Keith more if he woke up and saw Jake sleeping next to him? Would he even remember this come tomorrow morning?

These things would be easier to sort out if Keith wasn't dazed by the shock of the crash and the alcohol he'd consumed earlier in the night.

Jake sighs, "Nah, dude, seriously it's fine. I'm cool down here." He lies back down and rolls over, "Goodnight, Keith."

Keith doesn't say goodnight back. He's already fallen asleep.

Jake spots this when he glances over his shoulder at his old friend. He holds back laughter and rolls his eyes. Typical Keith.

He turns over again, trying his best to fall asleep.

This was going to be a pain in the ass to explain to Mama and Dani.


	4. Burn

His skull splits in half. Or, at the very least, it feels like it does. He can hear the throbbing in his head, his eyelids are heavy but he manages to force them open. The light blinds him as soon as he does. Everything is blurry, a mix of an array of absurd colors. Bright pinks, yellows, and blues. The reddish orange of the sun shining through the window, the blooming crimson on the walls around him. It all makes his head throb. There’s a familiar smell of pine trees on a winter morning. God, why is it so familiar? Where is he?

His body is heavy, he can hardly force himself up on his shaken elbows. There’s a bitter taste in his mouth that causes his face to scrunch up in disgust. Everything hurts. His arms, his chest, even his nose. Everything hurts. He sits up groggily. A spike of pain shoots up his back when he does, bringing his attention to the bandages wrapped around his chest. His heart begins to race. He scans the room around him, trying to piece together where the hell he was. It’s a small room with a big bed placed in the middle, the one he’s lying on. There are multiple brightly colored posters sloppily placed on the walls, creating an odd contrast between them and the dark crimson walls. Posters that are just splashes of neon colors, men on snowboards and skateboards, a poster or two from old Gameboy games. The room itself is an utter mess. A collection of snowboard gear piled in the corner, multiple pairs of windbreakers, brightly colored jackets, and a varying array of fashions of pants scattered on the floor. He stares at all of these things in utter confusion.

Then it clicks.

Keith looks to his side, half expecting Jake to be lying in the bed next to him. He sighs in relief when he realizes he’s not. But, over the side of the bed, he sees a figure lying on the floor. When he crawls over to that side of the bed, there’s a familiar head of blonde hair poking out from underneath a thin, bright blue blanket. Jake is lying on the floor, curled up and snoring softly. Keith tries to recollect something, anything about what happened last night. He remembers drinking. A lot. He remembers desperately trying to forget Jake or- or anything even remotely related to how he felt about him. Not exactly the healthiest way to deal with unrequitement, but hey, can’t blame a guy for being desperate. Other than that, though, he remembers absolutely nothing. How did he end up here? He knew now that this was Jake’s room in that little lodge he lives in, he’d been here multiple times back before the Hornets started up. Last time he was here, though, it wasn’t nearly as messy and unkempt.

He also remembers the pain.

The burning hot pain.

But he can't recall exactly what happened.

Keith runs a hand over the bandages on his chest, noticing bruises on his lower stomach,  _ gigantic _ ones. He brings a hand to his cheek, touching the bandages on it lightly before flinching and jerking it away. Fuck. Maybe it's a good thing he doesn't remember.

He remembers bits and pieces after that.

He remembers hearing Jake's voice.

He remembers screaming, crying, yelling.

He remembers telling Jake he hated him.

Keith's heart sinks when he thinks about this.

How could he say that to him?

He doesn't hate Jake. He could never hate Jake Coolice, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that he didn't love him.

A small snorting sound breaks Keith out of his thoughts.

Below him, Jake stirs awake. He sits up and stretches, looking around at the room. He jumps, seeming to remember who is in the room with him, and he looks up to Keith.

Keith freezes when he feels Jake's eyes on him.

What is he supposed to say? 

"..Hey." Jake mutters.

"H-Hey." Keith replies, gripping his blanket nervously.

"You uh...You doing better, man?"

Keith nods, "Y-Yeah I..I've got a bad headache but-" He sighs, "What..What happened last night?"

Jake tugs on his scarf nervously. Strange that he slept in it. "You uh..You were  _ really _ drunk, and- and I guess you were tryna get home but um..You really busted yourself up, my dude. Your bike was um..It was pretty wrecked, too."

"Oh."

_ "Yeah." _

"I..I'm sorry I-"

"Don't apologize. I'm just..I'm glad you're okay."

There's a brief silence between them.

"Did..Did you do all of this..?" Keith gestures to the bandages wrapped around his torso

"Oh uh- Y-Yeah I- I'm sorry if it's kinda shitty, the worst injury I've ever had to patch up is like..A few scrapes, you tore your entire back up."

"No, no Jake it's- Th-Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Another silence.

Jake sighs, "Keith?"

"Hm?"

"What were you doing last night?"

Keith's heart sinks again. He doesn't answer.

"Why were you out on your own drinking like that? Cl-Clearly it wasn't with the Hornets, you guys can be reckless but..You look out for each other. Hollis woulda never let you drive off on your own if you were drunk."

Keith swallows the lump in his throat. All he can do is stare down at Jake. Jake stands up, staring at Keith in concern.

"Did something happen?"

Keith mumbles, "What makes you think that?"

"I- I dunno, just- you can be pretty reckless but it never got  _ this _ bad unless something was going on."

Keith looks away from Jake. The spot on the bed next to him sinks as Jake sits down next to him. 

"Keith." His voice is soft, "You- You can talk about it. I know it's..it's been awhile, but..I'm still here for you, man."

Jake's cold hand finds itself on Keith's shoulder. Keith's heart begins to race, for once he doesn't push him away. A chill runs up Keith's spine. He's unsure if it's because of Jake's icy touch or because this is the first time they've really had any form of physical contact in  _ months. _ Well, while Keith was sober anyway, even then last night was technically also the first time they'd spoken in months. 

Maybe it was the fact that Jake was worried.

Jake  _ still cared. _

Keith sighs, "It's...It's a lot, Jake, I really wouldn't want to push that on you."

"Keith, really, I- I don't mind.."

There's another long silence.

"You- You know I didn't mean it." Keith's voice trembles.

Jake looks to him in confusion.

"I mean- What..What I said last night. That I hated you."

Keith waits for some sort of response from Jake, and all he gets in return is an expectant stare. His skin crawls. He's  _ not  _ prepared to be this vulnerable,  _ especially _ not around Jake, but he owes the guy an apology, doesn't he? At the very least he owes him an apology for what he did last night.

"I..I don't. Or- Or I'm pretty sure I don't." Keith shakes his head, "Jake, what happened?"

Jake blinks, "What do you mean?"

"I mean- Fuck." Keith buries his face in his shaking hands, "What happened between us? You just- you  _ left us _ and- and ran off with this new team and didn't speak to us for months and I thought that maybe I-"

He stops himself before he can continue.

"So you...were doing this because of me..?" The guilt in Jake's voice broke Keith's heart.

"No." His reply was immediate, "No not- Not..Really..I mean-" He huffs, "Everything's been really...difficult, lately. Ever since you left things just got...harder."

Jake doesn't reply, staring at Keith, waiting for him to elaborate further.

"Fuck I don't know! What do you want me to say?"

"What's on your mind." Jake's voice is soft.

What's on his mind?

What  _ isn't  _ on his mind?

The guilt he feels for putting Jake through all of this? The loneliness and anxiety he's gone through because of Jake's departure? How he thought it was his fault and perhaps he drove him away? How he feels like he's been replaced? How he wishes he'd come back? How he  _ loves  _ him? 

Instead, Keith merely says, "Why did you leave?"

Jake thinks for a moment. He looks away from Keith, "It's complicated."

"..Oh.." Keith says dejectedly.

Jake shoots his gaze back over to Keith, "N-Not because of you!" He says, "It- It wasn't your fault, Keith."

"Then why have you- you haven't spoken to me in months, Jake! I thought that maybe I- maybe I did something and-"

"Hey, no. No. Don't say that," Jake places a hand on top of Keith's. Keith shudders, his heart begins to pound against his chest. Jake's voice, Jake's  _ touch, _ are all things he hasn't heard in  _ months. _ Especially not in such a...comforting gesture. It almost gave him whiplash. Jake continues, "That wasn't your fault, Keith. I promise it wasn't. Things were changing now that Hollis was the leader and- and I dunno, I had to get out, it wasn't my scene anymore."

"Hollis didn't do anything wrong-"

"I'm not saying they did. Hollis is cool, I haven't spoken to them much, but if you care about them as much as you do then they're pretty rad  in my book!" Jake smiles, but it quickly fades, "I'm just not really into the whole...Biker gang thing you guys have got goin' now."

"We're not really a  _ gang. _ " Keith says, "We're basically the local frat kids."

"Eh, tomato tamato, right?" 

Keith can't help but laugh, "Not the same thing, but alright."

"Point is. You guys are really rowdy, and for  _ many  _ reasons I can't get involved in that…" Jake tugs at his scarf, "So it..It wasn't your fault, okay..?"

Keith hesitates, "Then why'd you grow so distant? I-I..I know you have the Badgers team now, but.."

"I wasn't going to abandon you. I could never do that to you, Keith, you were my best friend and I loved- love..love you a lot." Keith's stomach lurches when he hears these words. It's been so long since Jake has said this to him. "It's just that- You seemed upset when I told the team I was gonna leave, so I thought you needed space.."

Keith laughs, "God, no I didn't need space. I needed  _ answers. _ I needed to- to know why you left. I needed to know why it was so  _ easy _ for you to move on to the next new thing. For fucks sake, Jake, I-" He swallows the lump in his throat, "I..I missed you...I missed you alot."

Jake wraps his hand around Keith's, "I missed you too.." He whispers.

There's a silence between them.

"I..I really hope you know the Badgers weren't made to replace you. They weren't." Jake mutters.

Keith shakes his head, "It  _ feels _ like they were. You ditch our team without telling me why, when we've been a team for  _ years,  _ and then you just- you moved on to a new one so quickly! One that hasn't even existed for half the time the Hornets have!" Keith's voice cracks as he rambles on, "It feels like you found a new team who made you happier than we ever did, it's like you  _ replaced _ us and- and it didn't even take that long for you to! You found something better while I was still hurting! Is that how little we meant to you? Is that how little  _ I  _ meant to you?" Tears sting the edge of Keith's eyes, he grips the bed sheets tightly, hardly able to look in Jake's direction.

Jake stares at Keith in utter silence. He can't tell if the look on Jake's face is one of guilt or one of shock. He sighs.

"Keith...I'm sorry I made you feel that way, or if I made any of the Hornets feel like that. I never meant to give off that sort of vibe." He says, now looking down to the messy floor, "I moved on so fast because I  _ needed _ to, Keith. I couldn't just wallow in my own feelings when I thought you didn't want to speak with me for awhile. If I didn't move on soon I knew I never would. But I need you to know that just because I found something new doesn't mean I don't treasure what I had before. What we- The Hornets and I, I mean- had just...wasn't working for me anymore. I told you, I can't get mixed up in that sort of crowd. But..That doesn't excuse me making you feel unwanted. I'm really, really sorry, Keith. You don't deserve to feel like you're replaceable or unwanted or any of that because- because I really did miss you. A lot. Maybe things aren't the same anymore, but...I still love you, and I never want to make you feel that way again."

Keith can't even respond, he buries his face in his hands in attempts to hide the tears that have started flowing down his face. His entire body shakes when quiet sobs escape his mouth. He takes in a shaken breath, "I'm- I'm sorry, Jake, I'm so- so sorry.." He whispers, "I've been so- so cold to you and so distant...I'm sorry for yelling at you and- and making you do  _ all of this _ after what happened last night.."

"Hey, hey it's okay." Jake wraps an arm around Keith's shoulder, careful to keep it to a light touch, "I mean..I'd be pretty upset too."

"That's not a good excuse for me to treat you like shit. It..It hurts that you- you left and moved on so fast, but..That's your choice, and I..I'm happy for you. I shouldn't get upset with you for that, even if it makes me sad I- I shouldn't take it out on you..I'm really, really sorry, Jake.."

Before he knows it, Keith is being pulled into an embrace. Jake buries his face into Keith's shoulder, wrapping his arms around him, avoiding touching the bandaged and scarred areas of his back. Without hesitation Keith returns the gesture, holding Jake tightly to his chest. He places his chin atop Jake's head. Keith stares into nothing, taking in the cold yet comforting feeling of having Jake in his arms again. The oh so familiar scent of gingerbread and pine needles hit him for the first time in months. Jake's breath hitches periodically, Keith can tell he's crying too. They're both sobbing messes refusing to let each other go. Keith runs a hand through Jake's soft blonde hair. He has so many things he wants to say,  _ so many things,  _ but he can't form the words. For now, all he can do is hold onto Jake. All he  _ wants  _ to do is hold onto Jake. 

A smile spreads across Keith's face.

He's back.

Jake is  _ back. _ He's here again, safe in Keith's arms, the two of them locked away together in an embrace that shields out the rest of the world.

And they don't want to let go.


	5. Promise

His hand hovers over the doorknob, hesitant to walk into he and Hollis's apartment.

No doubt, they're home by now, and no doubt they're going to see how wrecked up he is and freak out. He doesn't even have his jacket anymore. Well, he does, he's carrying it, but it's torn to shreds. His white shirt is too, and it's covered in blood, but he had nothing else to wear on the walk home. Bet _that_ was a terrifying sight to see to the folks he walked past back in town. Keith had managed to slip past most of the lodge residents, it was early in the morning so not many of them were awake. Jake had escorted him to the back entrance of the Amnesty Lodge, asking again and again if he's _sure_ he wants to walk home alone. If he was honest, he wanted anything but to have left Jake's side, but he'd caused the poor guy enough grief for one day. Even if they talked stuff out, things still felt...awkward around him. How Jake stumbled over his words and nervously fidgeting with his fingers any time Keith looked down at him. Keith supposed he should've expected this. Besides, they'd only _just_ sorted everything out, it was going to take some time before things were back to normal again. If they ever could be, that is.

Keith takes a deep breath, wrapping his hand around the handle and slowly pushing the door in. He's hardly a step into their living room when he hears a familiar voice.

"Keith! Where the hell-" Hollis stops, scanning him up and down. Their eyes dart from the bandages on his face, to the blood on his shirt, to the bandages clearly visible through the holes in his clothing, to the torn up Hornets jacket. Their expression falls, they stare up at him in utter worry. "Keith? What happened? Are you okay?"

Yep, there it is.

"Yeah I..I'm fine, all things considered." Keith replied.

"What- Who did this to you?" Hollis places a hand on Keith's shoulder gently, "Keith when I get my hands on 'em I'll-"

"Nobody did this to me, Hollis."

"You- You were gone when I got home last night! I thought maybe you- you went to go get something or- or somethin' like that but-" They shake their head, gripping Keith's shoulder protectively, "Where'd you _go?_ How did this happen?" Their face suddenly scrunches up. Hollis sniffs the air, a look of horror quickly replacing their worried expression. "You smell like alcohol." They say, "Keith. What did you do."

"I didn't _do_ anything, okay? There was an accident-"

"An _accident?_ "

"-I kinda- I- I crashed my bike-"

"YOU WERE _DRIVING?_ "

"Hollis-"

"Was someone with you? Please don't tell me they _let you_ do this."

"No, Holi, nobody was with me."

"What were you thinking!? You- You could've ended up a lot worse than-" They gesture to the bandages on Keith's chest, "-this!"

"I..I know, I know, I'm sorry. But I'm okay, I promise. Someone found me and helped me out."

"Who?"

Keith pauses, unsure if he should tell Hollis about what really happened.

He sighs, "Jake."

Hollis blinks, "Jake?"

"Yeah."

“That’s..Good..?” Hollis’s voice egged Keith on to spill more details.

Keith sighs, “I guess? I..I dunno. Things are complicated.”

“Did you talk anything out with him? When you uh- When you weren’t totally wasted, I mean.”

“Yes.”

“How’d it go?”

“Good, I think?” He mutters, “I dunno, Holli, like I said everything’s real complicated..”

They put a hand on his shoulder, Keith flinching when they do so. Hollis’s eyes fall onto the bandages covering his chest and hand once more. They sigh push him forward towards the couch, “Sit down, we probably need to change your bandages.” They say, sitting Keith down on the couch, “You can talk about it while I fix this up if you need to.”

“Right...Thank you.” Keith mumbles.

Hollis walks out of the living room to go grab supplies they’d need. Keith sits on the couch, staring up at the ceiling and leaning against the arm of the couch. He’s lost in thought, unable to stop dwelling on the events of this morning.

Jake didn’t hate him.

Jake still cared.

Jake said- he said that he _loves_ him.

Just thinking about that makes Keith’s face flush a deep red. His heart raced faster than a panicked rabbit. Maybe Jake didn’t mean it like that, but still, he couldn’t stop replaying those words in his head. It’s a phrase he hasn’t heard in months, and he’d started to doubt it was true over the months of silence between the two of them. But he said it. Jake said it. Jake said he loves him.

Hollis’s footsteps snap him back to reality.

They set down their supplies on the coffee table and sit down next to him, “Just warning you, this might sting a bit.” They say before they begin to peel away the bandages on Keith’s back. He sucks in air through his teeth, arching his back forward as they removed the hours old bandages. “Sorry-” Hollis mutters, finally getting the rest of the bandages on Keith’s back off. Keith can hear them physically recoil. They make a disgusted noise as they stare at his scarred up back.

“That bad?” Keith asks.

“Yeah, no shit.” Hollis whispers. “What the hell did you do?”

“I told you, I crashed my bike.”

“How fast were you going?”

“That is...an excellent question.”

“Keith.”

“Hollis I cannot emphasize the fact that I literally don’t remember.”

“How much did you _drink?_ ”

“Like...A lot. A lot a lot.”

There’s a pause in their conversation as Hollis grabs a small rag and dampens it with some disinfectant. They press it against his back repeatedly in light dabs, careful to not put too much pressure onto his back. Their voice becomes gentler, “So..Why were you out last night? You said nobody was with you..”

Right.

Here comes the heavy part.

“I- I dunno...I didn’t want to be alone last night, I guess.” He mumbles.

“You could’ve called me.”

“You were busy with family stuff.”

“Not anything that I care about,” Hollis grumbles, “You could’ve called Tim. Or Bevin. Or any of the other Hornets.”

“And what? Let them see what a mess I was? Not happening.”

They look to him in concern, “Was something wrong last night?”

“..Yeah..Kinda.”

They wait for him to elaborate, grabbing the bandage wrap and beginning to redress Keith’s wounds.

Keith sighs, “It was Jake again, I guess. I couldn’t stop thinking about him and- and you weren’t home, and I didn’t want any of the Hornets to know I was still so hung up over him, so I kinda just...thought a few drinks might help me.”

“Keith, I love you very dearly as your best friend, and I’m sorry that you’re going through a rough time, but that is literally the stupidest fucking decision you could’ve ever made.”

Keith laughs, “Yeah- Yeah I get that now..” He flinches when Hollis tugs at the bandages, “Shit! Be careful, dude.”

“I told you this was gonna hurt for a bit.” They say, “You could’ve called me.” They say, again, “You’re like a brother to me, Keith. I would’ve dropped everything if it meant this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Thanks, Holli..” He smiles softly, “It’s not all bad, though. I mean...I talked a lot of stuff out with Jake.”

“Yeah, how’d that even happen?”

“He found me lying on the side of the road after I crashed,” Keith explains, “He’s the one who patched me up.”

“He didn’t take you to a hospital?”

“In his defense, he can’t drive and phones don’t work around here. We were far from any place with a wall phone, so.”

Hollis quirks an eyebrow, “What was he even doing out there? I’m assuming this was late at night.”

Oh.

That’s...a good question.

Keith wracked his memory for something, anything Jake may have told him. He never questioned it, Jake never explained, it just...didn't strike him as odd. He was too busy revelling in the fact that Jake still cared about him to notice anything strange.

"..I..I don't know, actually." Keith says, "I think I was too dazed to question it."

"Weird." Hollis says as they finish up the bandaging around Keith's torso, "Well, you're lucky he showed up. He did a pretty good job of fixing you up. Sloppy, but nonetheless still good." They grab for his injured hand, "You can sit back against the couch now. Your bandages are secure."

He does as they say to, "Yeah...Yeah I was real lucky. I um..I said. I said a lot of really bad shit to him, though. I..I still feel really shitty about it."

"Like what?" They unwrap the old bandages from Keith's hand, repeating the disinfection process.

"W-Well I- I was really, really drunk and overwhelmed by seeing him and I kinda..told him I hated him."

"And he _still_ helped you?"

"Now you see why I feel like shit." Keith chuckled lightly, "I..I know I don't hate him though. We talked it out, turns out he doesn't hate me either so...that's a relief." He clears his throat, "I'm not really...sure if he'd want me telling you what we talked about, though..it was some pretty heavy stuff."

"I'll bet," Hollis began bandaging Keith's hand, "So, are you two cool now..?"

"I think so? I- I dunno, everything's kinda confusing for me.."

"How so?"

Keith pauses.

He's not sure how he wants to _say_ this.

He sighs, "It's just that...God, it's almost overwhelming to have him back. I haven't been able to stop thinking about him for _months_ and there was...a lot of shit I tried to push down to..deal with it, I guess?" He shook his head, "It was rough. It was _really_ rough. I cared about him a lot and suddenly he was _gone._ But now he's back and I- I got to hold him in my arms again," Keith smiles when he says this, "It's..It's bringing back so many of those things I tried to push down, though. It's um- _pretty_ overwhelming, is all."

Hollis is again silent, working on Keith's injuries as they wait for him to explain further.

He bites his bottom lip, "Honestly they uh..they were hardly ever angry thoughts, sometimes, but not a lot. They were always really bittersweet, which is...probably why I tried to push them down a lot." Hollis finishes the bandages on his hand and get to work on replacing the bandage on his cheek. "Like...I'd always think about little things. How easy it was to make him laugh and- and how _wonderful_ his laughter was. How he was so energetic about everything, he- he lit up every room he was in. Literally, I mean with all those neons he wears how could he not? He was just..the kindest person ever, too. Nobody hated him. Nobody ever had a _good reason_ to hate him. He was...loud in every way, and it always made me smile. But..But then I'd think about how all of those things were gone now, and it made me really..really upset." He sighs, "And now those things _aren't_ gone anymore, but I..I still can't stop thinking about them."

A silence falls over them as Hollis finishes off the last of the bandages. Keith sits back, his head leading against the back of the couch as he stares at the ceiling.

He smiles softly.

"Fuck, Hollis, I..I think I'm in love with Jake."

They glance towards him, "You sound surprised," They chuckle, "You've told me this before, y'know."

"I never told him."

"Wait- really?"

"Yeah."

"Do...you _want_ to tell him?"

"Of course I do! But- but I can't. Not yet."

"Why not?"

"Holli if what's happened is THIS confusing to _me_ imagine how overwhelmed Jake must be. I don't wanna add onto that."

"That's...fair. But you gotta tell him eventually."

"Easier said than done." Keith shakes his head, "If I couldn't tell him in the five years before we stopped talking I don't think it'll be easier for me to tell him _now."_

"Jesus Christ, it's been _that long?"_

_"Yep."_

"Keith Owens, I love you but you're the biggest disaster of a human being I've ever met in my life."

Keith laughs, "Understandable."

"Still, one of these days you gotta tell him. I think it'd help to get it off your chest."

"I dunno..Maybe."

"You don't gotta any time soon, but eventually, okay?"

Keith sits up and turns to Hollis, looking them up and down and raising an eyebrow. He smirks, "Since when are you so invested in my romantic life?"

Hollis rolls their eyes, "I'm not invested in your romantic life, I'm invested in _you."_ Their expression softens, their voice more genuine, They put a hand on his shoulder, smiling warmly, "That being said...I'm proud of you for trying to sort shit out with him. That takes a lot of guts."

Keith blinks, a smile slowly spreads across his face, "Th- Thank you, Hollis.."

"Just- _promise me_ one thing."

"What?"

Their grip on his shoulder tightens, _"If_ he ends up not feeling the same, you _can't_ let it destroy you like _all of this_ did. You can feel sad, even miserable, but _please_ Keith you can't let any of this-" They gesture to his bandages, "-happen again. You got lucky this time. I- I don't..want to lose you if you _don't_ get so lucky if there's a next time."

Keith stares down at Hollis almost in shock. They've always been protective of him, sure, but he's never seen them...this worried about him before. Their voice was so soft, so genuine. Their grip on his shoulder was a warm presence, like the sun's rays holding onto him. He thought for a moment. He didn't even consider the possibility that Jake wouldn't feel the same. Of course, if he didn't that's okay, he's not going to act like he's entitled to Jake's heart. Would he be heartbroken? Absolutely. Who wouldn't be? Keith...didn't deal with heartbreak well, he'd already made that very clear to everyone who _knew_ about last night's little incident. Hollis knew that long before last night's incident, but now Keith is showing up hours after up and vanishing and oh God, look at the _state_ he's in.

He can't do that to Hollis again.

He can't do that to Jake again.

He can't do that to _himself_ again.

Keith grabs Hollis's hand off of his shoulder, cupping it between his two much larger hands. He stares into their eyes.

"I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I just wanted to show y'all this amazing fanart of Badgers and Bees drawn by @imstuckathome12 on tumblr!!! Check it out right here!: https://imstuckathome12.tumblr.com/post/184701275810/id-a-calf-up-pencil-sketch-on-lined-paper-of  
> Thank you so much to the artist for drawing this for me, it made me so happy I just had to share it here!


	6. Connections

Winter had finally found its place in the small town of Kepler, West Virginia. The first snow had fallen just a week prior, bringing with it a neverending bout of chilly winds and icy roads. Children gleefully frolicked in what little was left of the previous week's snowfall while their elders finished up shovelling their driveways and clearing the roads of ice. It was a mostly mundane, relaxing week for everyone in Kepler.

Everyone except the Badgers.

The moment the ski lodge was open again, their leader, Dani, insisted they get right to practicing for their next competition. In about a month they were facing off against the Hornets again. They needed to be in top shape for the next competition, especially considering this time around they weren't snowboarding. They were skiing. Now, the only real reason this was an issue was because of Jake Coolice, the Badgers' lieutenant. Jake was skilled beyond belief at all kinds of sports, and skiing was no exception, but...the thing was Jake enjoyed skiing  _ a little less _ than snowboarding. He rarely did it, when he did it was usually to show new folks how to, but never really for fun or anything of that sort. For this reason he was  _ a little less _ talented in that particular field, so Dani wanted to get practice in as soon as possible.

That and, well...things had become rather strange at the Amnesty Lodge.

The morning after the first snowfall, the entire lodge was awoken by the shocked screams of Barclay from the lobby. Apparently he'd come down to do his morning routine only to discover the bathroom covered in dry blood and discarded bandages. Nobody knew where it had come from. Nobody in the lodge seemed injured and nobody had seen anyone or anything enter or exit the lodge that night. Jake had been the only one out that night, what with him helping with wintery things and all, but he claimed he got back early. That's the part that bothered Dani.

_ Early. _

Jake was a goofy guy, with a last name like Coolice how can he not be, but he took his job seriously. Every winter he'd be hellbent on getting everything absolutely perfect. Every flower laid to rest, every animal ready for hibernation, every last tree branch lightly frosted. He was such a stickler for detail. Dani had once found him asleep buried in four foot deep snow on the first day of winter. Turns out he was "Triple-diple-quadruple checking to make sure every branch had been frosted, my dude" and passed out halfway through that process. Jake  _ never _ wrapped up his winter duties early.

What Barclay found had sparked paranoia within the lodge. Dani had never seen Mama and Barclay so on edge. If someone- or something- had managed to slip into the lodge under their noses and potentially hurt someone or itself then there was a serious issue here. Everyone in the lodge was on high alert, unsure if perhaps this was another abomination and it  _ somehow  _ managed to come early. No, that wasn't slate to happen until later this month. Someone knew something.

And that someone, no doubt, was Jake.

One thing one would need to understand about Dani is she  _ knows  _ Jake. They grew up together, even back on their home planet Sylvain they were by each others sides through thick and thin. Which would, perhaps, explain why they both just so happened to be banished from the planet at around the same time as one another. Jake was Dani's brother, or at the very least she saw him in that light. She knew when he was nervous, or scared, or when something was bothering him. The moment she told him what Barclay found, Jake faltered for just a moment. A moment was enough for Dani to know something had happened. What it was, exactly, escaped her. It was bad enough that he wasn't telling Mama, but Dani? If Jake wasn't telling Dani then something must  _ seriously  _ be wrong. She wanted to ask, she wanted to make sure Jake was okay, but any attempt at doing so was met with a dodgy excuse about how he has to go do this and that. Eventually Dani decided it was best to let him come to her when he was ready.

This little practice trip wasn't just that, it was a distraction. After the incident with Keith a few weeks back and now  _ this, _ Dani figured the poor guy needed a break. They all did.

For awhile it seemed to be working. He struggled with it a bit, but Jake began having a bit more fun with their skiing practice. Doing small tricks, cracking jokes with their other members, etc. All the tension that had been built up over the last week seemed to leave in an instant.

And then they showed up.

The Hornets.

Dani had hardly noticed them coming onto the hills, none of them had until suddenly black and yellow blurs were breezing past them. Now, Dani had no personal grudge against any of the Hornets. They were rowdy, sure, but all around good folks. It was Jake she was worried about. Their falling out effected Jake harshly a few months back. Nobody in the lodge had ever seen the poor guy so devastated in their lives. Hell, the whole reason the Badgers exist is so Jake can still go out and have fun with a team at little sporting events. It was meant to make Jake feel a little more comfortable any time he'd spot them at the slopes. Even still, Dani worried any time they showed up. Especially after their little encounter with Keith a few weeks back.

"Aw, man, what're they doing here?" Dani said, shoulders slouching, "I thought we told 'em we had the hills this week."

Beside her stood Jake, who didn't look at her as he spoke, "It's not that big a deal. Hills are big enough for both of us."

"I guess, but.." She scans the field for Keith. She finds him fairly quickly, standing just outside the lodge and talking to Hollis. It takes her a moment to realize that's where Jake's eyes are fixed as well. Keith leans onto the railing of the ski lodge porch. He's wearing a Hornets jacket that is far too large for him, his face and hand both have bandaging on them, and whenever he walks he has a slight limp. Keith was a kinda feisty guy, Dani wouldn't be too shocked if he had ended up in an altercation with someone, but none of those injuries constituted a fight. Hollis places a hand on Keith's shoulder and he flinches. They jerk their hand away, rambling out what Dani can only assume is an apology. Keith shakes his head and smiles in response. He leans onto the railing again, nodding to Hollis before they grab their skis and get going up the slopes. Dani's eye falls onto Jake, who is still staring at Keith. She looks back to Keith, who's now sitting on the steps of the ski lodge. Jake isn't taking his eyes off him.

Something is up.

Before Dani can ask, a voice interrupts her.

"Hey."

She jumps, whipping around to see Hollis standing behind her. She exhales, "Hey- You uh- you scared me.." She chuckles.

"Yeah, I see that." Hollis flashes her a smile before looking to Jake. "Sup, Jake?"

Jake still isn't taking his eye off Keith. "Uh huh..Yeah, yeah, uh- cool." Jake mutters, "Hey I'm gonna go- get some...hot cocoa." He says and then abruptly skates away.

"You hate hot cocoa!" Dani calls after him. Jake ignores her and continues on.

"Jake hates hot cocoa?" Hollis snorts.

"He doesn't like hot things much. He prefers cold things." She replies, not taking her eye off Jake as he skids to the bottom of the hill.

"So...What, he drinks his cocoa cold?"

"Most of the time, yeah."

"Isn't that just..chocolate milk?" 

"Not really. It has marshmallows in it."

"Chocolate milk could have marshmallows in it too if you're not a coward."

"Fair point." 

At the ski lodge, Jake jumps off his skis and scutters to the steps. He stands in front of Keith, and Dani half expects an argument to erupt, but...it never does. In fact, the two of them talk rather civilly. Jake even takes a seat next to Keith. 

"Huh." Hollis says, "You think if he really wanted us to believe the hot cocoa excuse he'd at least get Keith to go inside with him."

"Yeah it was a dumb excuse- what're they doing?"

"Talking, I think."

"Since when are they talking again?"

Hollis blinks, "You didn't know?"

Dani shoots a confused look at Hollis, "You did?"

"I mean, yeah, Keith tells me everything."

"Jake didn't tell me.."

Hollis shrugs and leans onto one of their ski poles, "Maybe he wasn't ready to. I can't really go around telling folks what Keith told me but it's ah..Some kinda personal stuff, y'know? Give him time and he'll tell you what's up."

"I know, I know, just- I'm worried about him, is all."

"Does it look like there's anything to worry about?" Hollis gestures to the two sitting at the porch. Jake laughs heartily, even from up here the two of them can hear it, and Keith is smiling ear to ear.

"No…" Dani says, she can't help but smile. The smile fades in exchange for a once again confused expression. "But...What was with Keith running off when Jake tried to talk to him awhile back?"

"Listen, Deedee, I love the guy with all my heart, but Keith Owens has the emotional literacy of a rock. He's a little hotheaded and gets too worked up sometimes, but he's a good guy. I think he and Jake just needed to talk shit out."

"Did they?"

"Well, I can't go giving out details, mostly cause I don't have em, but yeah they did. Thank God, too, having Keith moping around over Jake leaving constantly wasn't the greatest sight to see."

"Yeah, I know, Jake was pretty messed up after he left your team too."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah,  _ a lot. _ " Dani shook her head, "I never thought I'd see that guy happy ever again."

Hollis smirks and chuckles, "Man, when a guy like Jake Coolice is devastated you know it's bad." 

From that a silence fell between the two of them. They watched their friends, their brothers, talk happily amongst one another for the first time in months. Hollis shifts awkwardly on one leg to the other. "So uh...hey." They say.

"Hm?"

"I feel like, uh...I should. Apologize. Maybe?"

Dani perks up, looking towards Hollis. They don't meet her gaze, instead nervously rubbing their arm with a gloved hand. "What for?" She asks.

"I dunno. Just- See, the thing is, I-" They sigh, "Listen don't make me do this whole emotional vulnerability shit in public. Or in front of my team."

Dani laughs, "Well, you're the one who brought it up."

She swears she sees a smile crack on Hollis's face as they roll their eyes. They finally return her gaze, "I dunno. I think..I'm probably the reason Jake left the Hornets? I know we got a lot rowdier after I showed up, so.."

Dani blinks, "Hollis don't be ridiculous! The Stunt Club was changing long before you showed up and- well, it's true the Hornets really isn't Jake's scene anymore, but that has nothing to do with you."

"Maybe, but..I dunno. Seeing the two of them so miserable I can't...help but think maybe I had something to do with it.." They look down to the ground, "Now I don't wanna get all sappy with you or anything, I just..I want you to know I didn't mean any harm."

"That's the thing, nobody thinks you did! In all those months Jake never, not  _ once,  _ turned the blame on you. Hell once or twice he said you were, and I quote, 'pretty fuckin chill.'" That got a laugh out of Hollis, which in turn made Dani smile, "You do your own thing, Hollis. You didn't hurt Jake and you  _ certainly  _ didn't hurt Keith. Jake leaving had nothing to do with you, I promise you that." 

Hollis exhales, "Okay thank fucking God." They chuckle, "You have  _ no idea  _ how relieving that is to hear."

"I can only imagine."

Hollis smiles, their gaze falling back to their two friends chatting on the ski lodge porch. "I wouldn't want to be on Jake's bad side, is all. Keith cares about him a lot, so he's a good egg in my book."

"I'm not even sure Jake  _ has _ a bad side. Like, don't get me wrong, he's no innocent little angel, but I think if Jake hated anyone the world would like...die."

Hollis laughs, "You really think so?"

"Oh I know so."

The two of them laughed, Hollis grabbing their ski pole and pulling it out of the ground. 

"Welp, I better get back to practice."

"Are you not gonna go get Keith?"

"Oh, no, he's gotta sit out for awhile. Dumbass wrecked his bike and now he can't move without feeling like the devil's decided to run him over five times."

"Oh shit-"

_ "Yeah." _ Hollis shakes their head. They turn, about to skate away. Right before they do so, they look over their shoulder to Dani, "Oh, and Dani?"

"Hm?"

"We're gonna kick your team's ass next time." They give her a sly grin.

"Oh keep dreaming!" Dani retorts.

Hollis teasingly sticks their tongue out at her before sliding off.

Dani shakes her head with a smile shining upon her face. Hollis wasn't a bad kid, who knew the typically stoic and quiet leader of the local sort-of-kind-of-not-really biker gang could be so damn pleasant and charming. One last time she looks down to Jake and Keith sitting together on the porch.

They're speaking much more softly to each other now. Sitting so much closer than before, too. Dani watches as they not-so-subtly put their hands together, only for the other to shyly pull away as they both laugh it off.

Something clicks in Dani's mind.

The way Jake used to talk about Keith, how Jake used to be gone late into the night because he was with Keith, how he seemed to mourn him in their time apart, how  _ Keith  _ was apparently devastated after Jake's departure, how they're behaving now that they're together again.

Things suddenly made a little more sense.

Not everything, but some things.

It all made just a  _ little more  _ sense.


End file.
